Gardening with deer in Nashville, Tn can be a real challenge. Purchasing deer-resistant plants such as Lenten Rose and purchasing deer off products such as Liquid Fence are some of the best defenses you can have from deer destroying your garden.
Realize though that if deer are hungry enough, they will eat just about anything.
Another way to garden with deer in Nashville is to keep deer away by using herbs in your landscape to deter them.
Herbs are especially good to grow because deer don’t like scented plants. In general, deer detest plants with thorny or prickly leaves or stems. I can’t say that I blame them!
Plants with strong scents, hairy leaves, or pungent tastes, such as herbs are generally considered deer-resistant plants. Since herbs are so easy to grow, they are a good place to start in combating deer in your garden.
We don’t even bother with putting up fencing around our herbs!
Another tip is to plant varieties of plants that the deer love closest to the house so that they are the easiest for you to manage. This area can be protected by fencing or regular application of repellents fairly easily.
Also, planting deer-resistant plants around the plants that deer tend to enjoy most helps keep them away. For instance, planting the Lenten Rose, also called a Hellebore, around our hydrangeas, as pictured above, mean deer will hopefully not want to step through them to get to your beloved plants.
Two years ago we declared war on the deer as it seems our garden was a “destination garden” for them.
Using the Liquid Fence mentioned above really seemed to help.
Applying Liquid Fence is easy. Simply follow the directions on the bottle. The directions state to apply during a dry spell once a week. After that, apply once a month during the growing season. It really does work! One $49.00 bottle can last you for years. Purchase Liquid Fence at most any local garden center or online.
Below are a few more products available to help you to garden with deer in Nashville.
Deer Fencing: is another very effective method of keeping deer out of your garden. With a five acre garden, we can’t afford to fence in the entire area so we use fencing for our cutting and vegetable garden areas only. Deer fences should be six to eight feet high and the top should point away from the garden to make it harder for deer to jump over.
Wireless Deer Fencing: This product works like a baited electric fence without the wires. Small post containing bare wire electrodes and scented resin attractant actually attracts the deer to the post. When a deer touches the post, it receives a startling shock which causes it to flee the area. This shock is startling, but will not harm children and pets (I would warn them though). You may even easily remove the small post when children are present. As with the deer repellent sprays and granules, the trick is to train you deer early in the season to stay away from certain areas. We tried this product and noticed that the directions called for using it along with the liquid deer repellent products in the beginning while you are training the deer. We did this and it worked great.
Human or dog hair: Using human hair from a salon or pet hair from a groomer is one method that some people try to keep deer away. Placing it around your special plants may be helpful.
Predator urine: Is exactly what it says. Urine of wolves and coyotes which are natural predators of deer. Smelling this in an area makes deer leave that area. This is actually what many deer-off products consists of.
Irish Spring Soap: One home remedy people have been know to have success with. Scrap soap shavings off the bar and spread around plants.
Ultrasonic devices: These devices startle deer from your yard by using motion activated high-pitch sound waves which disturb the deer and not you. The Ultrasonic: Motion Activated Deer and Animal Repeller is our recommendation because, unlike most ultrasonic devices that deer get used to, this system is tested and designed to emit a high pitched ultrasonic sound which covers up to 4000 square feet. It also has an adjustable frequency range. The sensor range is 35 feet by 70 feet.
We have not tried this one since we have about 5 acres to protect but if you have a small enough space it’s worth checking into.
Hopefully, some of these tips will help you on your way to gardening with deer in Nashville.
If you have any tips that have worked for you please let us know! Join the conversation of our Facebook page.
Need help with your garden? Call us at 615-350-8030 or fill out our contact form by clicking here.
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